All suspicions confirmed
Vecernje Novosti - July 9, 2008 20:25:55

by E. Radosavljevic

The investigation into alleged human organ trade in north Albania began in Serbia at almost the same moment that allegations by former Hague prosecutor Carla del Ponte about these horrific crimes flooded the public. The prosecutor's office for war crimes initiated a process to verify everything about which del Ponte wrote in her book "The Hunt: Me and the War Criminals".

And the accusations were very grave - during the state of war in Kosovo in 1999, members of the KLA, acting on orders of their commanders who are today political leaders, abducted non-Albanian citizens, transferred them to Albania, imprisoned them in camps in the region of the municipalities of Tropoi, Kukesh and the mines of Deva, tortured them, removed their vital organs in order to later sell them. About 300 people were killed in these monstrous crimes, and their human remains are buried in a mass grave located in the same region.

Those responsible for the investigation, we learned, immediately began to take statements from witnesses. Anyone assumed to have any knowledge of the matter was summoned to make a statement. All information about KLA members, their names, roles during and after the bombing, but also about UNMIK, also suspected to have taken its piece of the pie, were precious, awoke hope and led to further verification.

At about the same time that political leaders in Kosovo were saying that Carla del Ponte's claims were comical, and Albanian officials were saying that they had absolutely no information about the alleged organ trade, the investigation taking place hundreds of kilometers away, in Belgrade, which included no small number of people, showed that del Ponte was right. As "Novosti" has learned from sources close to the investigation, the same suspicions arose - that in the north of Albania, in the villages of Tropoi, Kukesh and the mines of Deva camps there really existed camps where non-Albanian civilians were imprisoned and tortured. As well, there was confirmation of indications that a mass grave exists where the human remains of the prisoners were buried. Moreover, Tropoi and Kukesh were also known for having been the locations of KLA training camps.

All these facts led to what can be described in legal language as all essential characteristics of a war crime against the civilian population. For officials in Serbia it was a sign that the time was right to address Albanian state officials.

The Albanian state prosecutor, it was confirmed for our paper, was asked to verify his own database and find valid information or documents regarding the existence of training camps for KLA members from Kosovo, as well as those which received civilians abducted in Kosovo and transferred to Albania. According to what "Novosti" has learned, information was also requested about how KLA members treated prisoners, and an accent was placed on any information regarding the alleged trade in vital human organs.

After that, it was asked that Serbian officials conducting the investigation also attend a hearing of possible witnesses to be handled by Albanian officials.

After some time, a response from Albania arrived at the door of the relevant Serbian institutions. Instead of verifying the data as asked by Serbian officials, they said they would cooperate with investigators of the Hague Tribunal.

At one point the Belgrade investigation, we learned, also began investigating the location of camps that existed in Albania. Officials also knocked on the door of the head of the regional delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross for Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania seeking any assistance.

"We must advise you that in our archive we have not found a single piece of relevant information that we could share with you," was the response, opening a myriad of new questions.

Namely, officials in the Red Cross then spent several densely typed pages explaining the operating rules of this organization, "especially adherence to strict confidentiality", is something that "states not only accept, but expect". This confidentiality "encompasses all oral and written communications between the Red Cross and conflicting sides". As a result of this, the staff of this international organization is forever bound to adhere to the practice of keeping professional secrets. The Red Cross correspondence further states that its position was also confirmed by the Hague Tribunal.

PARALLEL INVESTIGATIONS

Two days ago in a meeting with new Justice Minister Snezana Malovic Hague investigator Patrick Lopez Perez [sp?] promised help to the Serbian judiciary in discovering the truth about the trade in vital human organs.

Parallel to this investigation, a process launched by the Council of Europe will also be conducted. Namely, this organization has named Dick Marti [sp?] of Switzerland, a deputy in the CoE Parliamentary Assembly, as rapporteur with the task of investigating the allegations, first of all, of former Hague prosecutor Carla del Ponte, about trade of human organs in Kosovo.


Marti recently stated that the trade in human organs is "a highly significant problem" and that the Council of Europe and the United Nations is working full strength to resolve this matter.


Dick Marti is known to the public as the rapporteur of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly on secret prisons and CIA flights. He made his reputation as a public prosecutor in the fight against organized crime. In support of all the investigations being conducted into the trade of human organs in north Albanian is a Human Rights Watch report, which also points out the existence of this serious crime.

RUSSIANS ALSO SEEKING TRUTH ABOUT THEIR OWN

The whole investigation on the trade in human organs, according to what "Novosti" has learned, has been joined by the Russian Federation. The Central Commission for Investigation of the Russian Federation's prosecutor's office is verifying information received from media reports about kidnappings and murders of Russian citizens during the period from 1999 to 2003 suspected to have been carried out by members of the KLA.

The Russians have also taken into account del Ponte's claim that the KLA kidnapped about 300 people, including several female Russian citizens, who were used as donors for the transplantation of human organs.


Moreover, Russian investigative officials emphasize that one of their papers published the information that the Albanian mafia had killed "at least 500 people", including 50 Russian citizens. According to the claims of Russian investigative organs, the center for the illegal donation of human organs was operational from 1999 to 2003.

Serbian Original: http://www.novosti.rs/code/navigate.php?Id=3&status=jedna&vest=124375&datum=2008-07-10
Translation By: Snezana Ivanisevic